Vending machine



. VENDING: MACHINE Filed Aug 1, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 1' INSERT COIN aTHE/ 5 A" "'27 1 KNOB 60 05 on IVEREO 0/? cow 2? RETURNED HERE July 14,1931. H Gus 1,814,795

VENDING MACHINE Filed Aug. 1. 1929 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 62/7/61Q46 BY (5 -AwoRm-z July 14, 1931. H. GILES VENDING MACHINE Filed Aug. 1.1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 4;! I ATTORN July 14,1931. H. GILES ,8 4,795 IVENDING MACHINE Filed Aug, 1 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR wax 9y 42:55

- July 14, 1931. H. GIL ES VENDING MACHINE Filed 1m 1. 1929 5Sheets-Sheet 5 8 5 R Y o, E w t a? B- Patented July 14, 1931 unrrsn sr'rPATENT OFFICE HARVEY GILES, or BROOKLYN, new YofaK, AssreNon rosnrnnnsWARD me, A con- PORATIGN CF VENDING MAGHIN E Original application filed.January 23, 1928, Serial No. 248,829. Divided and'this application filedAugust l,

1929. Serial,

he invention relates to an improvement in vending machines of the typein which an article is delivered by the manipulation of a handle uponthe insertion of a coin in the machine. The present application is adivision of my copending application Serial No. 248,829, filed January23, 1928.

The general object of the invention is to reorganize and simplify theoperating parts of a coin-controlled vending machine to produce a moreefficient and durable machine. A more specific object of the inventionis to provide a vending; machine in which the articles to be vended arestacked in columns with means for preventing frictional engagementbetween the articles of a reserve column or columns and the deliverymeans until the machine is in condition to deliver the articles from thereserve column. To the accomplish-o ment of these objects the inventionconsists in the improved coin-controlled vending machine hereinafterfully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The preferred formof the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation on a reduced scale of thebox or casing of the machine; Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly insection, of the lower part of the machine with the cover removed; Figs.3 and 4 are transverse sections taken respectively on the lines 3-8 and4; i of Fig. 7; Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical sections taken respectivelyon the lines '55 and 66 of Fig. 3, and looking in the direction of thearrows; Fig. 7 is a front sectional elevation of the operating parts ofthe m. chine and showing the parts in the act of'delivering an article;Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 88 of Fig. 4, and showing moreparticularly the article delivery means; and Figs. 9, 10 and 11 aresections similar to Fig. I 8 and showing the parts in differentpositions of operation.

The coin-controlled article delivery means of the vending machine arehoused in a vertically arranged box or casing 15 rectangular incross-section and consisting of the front wall or cover 16, the sidewalls 17 and 18 and the rear wall 19. The top of the casing is closed bythe cover 20 and access into the a narrow ledge or shelf 40.

lower part of the casing is prevented by the hopper shaped enclosure 21which serves as a receptacle into which the articles and returned coinsare delivered. The slanting side walls 23 and 24 of the receptacledirect.

the articles and the returned coins onto the bottom 25 of the receptacleto which access is afforded through the opening 26 cut in the front wallof the receptacle. The coin is inserted in the slot 27 and an article isdelivered by depressing the knob or handle 28 however, that themechanism of the present invention is adapted to deliver articles fromany desired number of columns simply by duplicating the parts of thearticle delivery means herein shown and described. Each hopper 32 and 33consists of a rear wall 3-i,the left hand sidewall 85, the right handside wall 36 .andthe partial front wall 37. The'vertically extendingopenings left in the front walls of the hoppers permit adjustment of thearticles in the hoppers. At their lower ends the rear walls 34 of thehoppers are secured to a plate 38, and the lower ends of the partialfront walls 37 are secured to a plate 39. Projecting inwardly from thelower edge of each plate 39 and 38 is The outer bottom edges ofthe'lowermost articles in the hoppers rest on the shelves 40 and thearticles are thus supported in the hoppers. The lower ends of the wallsforming the hoppers terminate above the shelves 40 a distance suiiicientto permit the articles rest inn; on the shelves to be ejected from themachine. v p

The hoppers 32 and 83 are supported in upright position within thecasing 15 in the usual manner and for this purpose the ends of the plate38 are provided with the rearwardly and downwardly projecting hooks 42which engage with the edges of openings in a. plate 43 removably mountedon the rear wall 19 of the casing. The plate 43 is provided with threeslots 44, two on its right side and one on its left, which are adaptedto receive the headed pins 45 extending forwardly from the casing wall19. The upper ends of the slots are contracted to receive the neckportion of the pins 45, whereas the heads of the pins engage with thefront face of the plate which is thus held from shifting. The pins 45also serve to keep the rear face of the plate 43 properly spaced fromthe wall 19. The plate 43 is locked in place by means of an .arm 46pivoted at 47 on the casing wall 19. The lower end of the arm 46 isnotched to engage with a pin 48 projecting rearwardly from the upperpart of the plate 43, and thereby prevent the plate 43 from accidentallylifting out of place. A spring 49 holds the notched lower end of the arm46 in engagement with the pin 48.

The improved article delivery means is arranged to deliver first all thearticles in hopper 32 except the last or topmost article 51 therein,then to deliver all the articles in hopper 33, and finally to deliverarticle 51, after which the machine is locked against fur ther operationuntil again replenished with articles. The article delivery meanscoinprises the two fingers 52 and 53 pivoted on a slide 54 mounted onthe front side of the lower end of the plate 43. On the rear side of theplate 43 and located opposite the slide 5 is a rack plate 55 which issecured to the slide 54 by screws 56 passing through the longitudinalslot 57 cut in the plate 43. The lower edge of the slide 54 is supportedon a ledge 58 offset forwardly from the lower edge of the plate 43.Reciprocating movements are imparted to the slide 54 by a lever arm 60the lower slotted end 61 of which loosely engages a pin 62 projectingrearwardly through the slot from the left hand end of the slide. Thelever arm 60 is fulcrumed at 63 on the rear side of the plate 43 and isactuated by the handle 28 in the manner to be described presently.

To prevent return movement of the slide 54 before it has completed afull article delivery stroke, the upper edge of the v plate 55 isprovided with theteeth 64 arranged to be engaged by a" pawl 65 pivotedat 66 on the rear side of the plate 43. The pawl 65 is controlled by aspring 67.

The fingers 52 and 53 are held spaced on the slide 54 by the collars 69so that the upper ends of the fingers may extend into the space betweenthe shelves 40 to engage and eject the articles. The operative articledelivering position of the fingers is determined by the stop pins 70projecting forwardly from the collars 69 and against which the spring 71yieldingly holds the fingers. These parts are lll reserve COlllll'lll0e) arranged and function as usual in machines of this character.

The normal retracted position of the slide 54 is shown in Fi g. 8. Asthe slide is moved to the left the upper end of the finger 52 enthelowermost article '73 of the hopper 3 2 and pushes it out from under thecolumn of articles in the hopper and beyond the left hand ends of theshelves 40 (the action being indicated in Fig. 7), so that the articlewill fall down through the opening 74 formed between the inner surfaceof the lower end of the wall 17 and the guide plate 75 secured to therear wall 19 of the casing and projecting forwardly therefrom. heopening 74 discharges into th receptacle 21. As the article is moveuoutwardly by the finger 52 it swings the flap or guard 76 pivoted at 77on the plates 33 and 39. The flap 76 acts to prevent the insertion of aninstrument into the machine to abstract an article therefrom. As soon asthe finger 52 has pushed the lowermost article out from under thesuperincumbent articles in the hopper 32 the next succeeding article 78drops onto the shelves 40. As the slide 54 returns to its initialposition the spring 71 permits the upper end of the finger 52 to passunder the article on the shelves 40 and then returns it to articleengaging position after it has passed to the right This mode ofoperation is f the article. continued until all the articles except thelast or topmost article 51 are delivered from the.

hopper 32.

While all the articles except the last two articles are being deliveredfrom the hopper 32 by the finger 52, the finger is passing inoperativelyunder the articles in the hopper 33, being prevented from engaging thelowermost article 79 in hopper 33 by the inturned lower end 80 of aguard 81 pivoted at 82 on the right hand ends of the plates 38 and 39.Fig. 7 showsthe limit of the left hand movement of the finger 53 andFigs. 8 and 9 show the right hand limit of the movement of the linger53. Thus it is seen that while the end 30 of the guard 81 is under thearticles in the hopper the finger 53 reciprocates inoperatively, exceptto push forward slightly the lowermost article of the column in thehopper 32. This condition continues until only two articles remain ofthe column in hopper 32, the last or topmost article 51 and the nextlower article shown in 9. This arrangement prevents any frictionalengagemo ment between the linger 53 and the articles until the m; chineis in condition to deliver the articles of column 33.

The delivery of all the articles from hopper 32 except the last twotherein lowers the weight 88 resting on the column of articles in thehopper below a feeler member 89 projecting into the slotted lower end ofthe side wall 36 of hopper 32 from the upper end of per edges of theplates 38 and 39. The arm 90 is connected by the link 92 with the upperextension 85 of the guard 81. Until the last two articles in the hopper32 have been delivered the leaf spring 84 acting on the extension 85 ofthe guard 81 presses the fee-ler member 89 against the adjacent sides ofthe articles and of the weight 88. .When, however, only two articlesremain in the column of hopper 32 the weight 88 descends below thefeeler member 89, and thereupon the spring 84 acts to swing the arm 90and the upward extension85 of the guard 81 to the left and therebyretract the extension 80 of the guard 81 from beneath the column ofarticles in hopper 33. This permits the upper end of the finger 53 toassume a position behind the lowermost article 79 in hopper On the nextleft hand movement of the slide 54 the finger 52 engages and pushes outof the machine the second last article 86 of column 32 and the finger 53pushes the lowermost article 79 of hopper .33 into the place occupied byarticle 86. This mode of operation is clearly indicated in 10. Toprevent article 79 from frictionally. engaging the bottom surface ofarticle 51 in hopper 32, 1 provide a flap 93 depending in the path oftravel of the articles beingdelivered from hopper 33. As an article ispushed forward by finger 53 it engages the flap '93 and swings it underthe adjacent side edge of article 51.

v When the article pushed forward by finger 53 has displaced the articleunder article 51 in hopper 32 the flap 93 returns to inoperativeposition. The lowerend of the fia-p is slotted so as not to interferewith the passage of the upperends of the fingers.

The finger 53 continues in this manner'to deliver the articles fromhopper 33 until all the articles therein have been delivered. When thelast article in. hopper 33 has been pushed forward by finger 53 anddelivered from the machine by finger 52, thelast article 51 in hopper 32descends onto the shelves 40 in positionto be engaged and delivered byfinger 52. While finger 52 is pushing the last article 51 out of themachine the vertically arranged-detent 95 loosely mounted in weight 88descends into the path of return movement of the lug 96 projectingupwardly from the collar 69 associated with finger 52, therebypreventing return movement of the slide 54.- The lower end of detent 95normally rests-on the last article 51 in hopper 32, as clearly indicatedin Figs. 8 to 10. When article 51 has been delivered detent 95 dropsoiits own weight into the path of travel of lug 96. The detent 95 isprovided with a slot 97 which engages the pins 98 passing through theweight 88. The articles are pressed downwardly in the hopper 33 by meansof the weight 100. The lower ends'of both weights 88 and 100 are slottedso that guided in its the heads of in the machine.

A portion of the right hand edge of the slide 102 is offset forwardly,and to the middie to this offset part 103 of theslide 102'is secured theknob or handle 28. To protect the edges ofthe slot 104 in the side wall18 of thefcasing through which the handle 28 projects, a slotted plate105 is provided against which the part 103 of the slide 102reciprocates. Extending rearwardly from the slide 102 are two headedpins 106 which I project through thevertically arranged slots 10'? inthe plate 43. The slide 102 is thus up and down movements and the pinsby engagement with the rear face ofthe edges of the slots 107 hold theslide 102 and the'parts carried by it in operative position. The slide102 is moved downwardly to impart a'left hand, article deliveringmovement to the slide 54 through the lever arm '60 by depressing thehandle 28;when a coin is in proper position The slide 102 is returned toits raised position .by means of the contraction spring 108 secured atits upper end to the-pin 109 fastened in the upper end of the plate 43and secured at its lower end in the part 103 of theslide 102. The meansfor operatively connecting the slide 102 with the lever arm 60 when acoin is in proper position in the machinefcomprises a member 110pivotally mounted at 111 on the slide 102. A block 112 holds the member110 away from the slide 102. The member 110 is providedon its right handside with a rearwardly extending arm 114 which projects through anopening in the plate 43 and has a normal position above a deflector115formed as the inclined lower end of a resilient member 116 secured atitsupper end 117 to the upper, part of the rear side of the plate 43.

'A pin 118 normally holds the lower end 115 of the member 116 indeflecting position. If the handle 28 is depressed when nocoin is in themachine the arm 114 of the member 110 slides down the deflector 115 andis guided thereby into the vertically arranged slot 120 formed in thedownwardlyex'tendingpart 121. of the lever arm 122 which with the leverarm 60 constitutes a bell crank lever123 pivoted at63. Thus there is noengagement between the arm 114 and the lever 123 when no coin has beendeposited in the machine and consequently the handle 28 may be depressedwithout affecting the other parts of the machine beyond inoperativelyreciprocating the slide 102 andthe parts carried by it. When, however, aproper coin has been inserted in the machine, the downward movement ofthe arm 114 pushes aside the deflector 115 and engageswith theshoulder124 formed on the part 121 of the lever arm 122 and oscillatesthe lever 123 about its pivot point 63 to move the slide 54. The

lever 123 is returned to normal position by means of the spring 125secured at its upper end to the plate 43 and at its lower end to thelever arm 122. A stop 126 on the plate 43 engaged by the lever arm 60determines the normal position of lever 123.

When a coin is inserted into the machine through the slot 27 it passesinto a guide slot 127 formed by the upper bifurcated ends of a fixture128 fastened to the plate 129 secured by the screws 130 to the angleiron 131 supported by the offset part 132 of the right hand margin ofthe plate 43. The incoming coin is guided by the slot 127, the bottom133 thereof being inclined for the purpose, into the opening 134 formedbetween the flange 135 extending forwardly from the upper end of theslide 102 and the coin deflector 136 pivoted at 137 in the upper part ofthe right hand margin of the plate 43. The plate 43 constitutes the rearwall of the opening 134 and the side extension 138 of plate 129constitutes the front wall thereof. The lower end of the coin deflector136 is inclined slightly to the left, when the parts are in normalposition, and directs the coin into the upper end of a verticallyarranged pocket 139, the side 140 of which is secured to the part 141 ofthe angle iron 131. At its two lateral edges the side 140 of the pocket139 is extended at right angles and then inwardly, thereby forming areceptacle open at its upper and lower ends and provided on its righthand side with a vertical opening 142 to permit the member 110 to feelfor and engage the coin in the pocket. As the falling coin reaches thelower end of the pocket 139 it is caught and held by the rearwardlyturned lower end 143 of a resilient member 144 secured to the lower endof the plate 129. The coin 145 in the lower end of the pocket 139 isheld by the resilient member 144 in position to be engaged by the lowerend 146 of the member 110 as the latter is swung in a clockwisedirection by reason of the engagement of the arm 114 with the deflector115. WVhen the lower end 146 of the member 110 encounters the coin 145the member 110 is held against further pivotal movement, and the arm 114is thereby held in a vertical plane over the shoulder 124 of the leverarm 122. Consequently, on the continued downward travel of the member110 with the handle 28, the arm 114 pushes to one side the deflector 115and engages with the shoulder 12 thereby oscillating the lever 123 onits pivot point 63 and moving the slide 54 to deliver an article. 011the continued downward movement of the member 110 the shoulder 'of themember 110, the upper edge 152 of the shoulder 147 encounters the part153 of the right hand side wall of the pocket 139 which acts as a cam torotate the member 110 in a counter clockwise direction and position thearm 114 above the deflector 115. The top edge 154 of the opening in thelever arm 122 acts as a stop to limit the upward movementof the member110 and the parts connected therewith. The side wall 155 of the leverarm 122 by engagement with the arm 114 as the latter slides on theshoulder 124 limits the oscillatory movement of the lever 123 andthereby the extent of the article delivery movement of the slide 54.Upon the delivery of the last article 51 of hopper 32 by finger and thelocking of slide'54 by the engagement of the lug 96 by the detent 95 thecoin slot- 127 is closed by the guard plate 179 which prevents theinsertion of any more coins into the machine. The guard plate 179 iscar- 'ried by the forwardly extending part 180 of the upper end of theflange 135.

lVhat I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In avending machine of the character described, a plurality of verticallyarranger hoppers for containing the articles to be vended, a'pair ofspaced shelves located below the hoppers and on which the lowermostarticles in the hoppers rest, a slide arranged to reciprocate beneaththe hoppers, a plurality of fingers pivotally mounted on the slide,there being one finger corresponding to each hopper, a guard memberarranged under the articles of one hopper to prevent engagementtherewith by the finger corresponding to that hopper while the articlesare being deliveredfrom the preceding hopper, and spring pressed feelermeans for engaging with the articles in the preceding hopper until theyhave been exhausted to a predetermined extent for holding the guardunder the articles in its hopper, the exhaustion of the articles in thepreceding hopper to a predetermined extent permitting the feeler to movethe guard from under the articles in its hopper.

2. In a vending machine of the character described having areciprocatory slide and a plurality of fingers mounted on the slide fordelivering articles, a plurality of vertically arranged hoppers forcontaining the articles to be vended, each linger on the slidecorresponding to a hopper to prevent engagement therewith by the fingercorresponding to that hopper until the articles of the preceding hopperhave been delivered to a predetermined extent, a pivoted feeler membercon nected with the guard, a spring for forcing the fceler member intocontact with the articles in its hopper, the engagement of the feelermember by the articles holding the guard under the articles in itshopper, exhaustion of the articles in the preceding hopper below apredetermined point permitting the spring to move the feeler member andwithdraw the guard from under the articles in its hopper.

3. In a vending machine of the character described having articledelivery means consisting of a slide, and a plurality of articleengaging fingers mounted on the slide, a plurality of verticallyarranged hoppers containing the articles to be vended, there being onefinger corresponding to each hopper, a feeler member for engaging thearticles in a hopper until they have been exhausted to a.

predetermined extent, a guard held by the feelcr member under thearticles in the next 5 succeeding hopper to prevent engagement therewithby the finger corresponding to that hopper, and means effective when thearticles in the first hopper have been exhausted to a predeterminedextent to move the feeler member and retract the guard from under thearticles in its hopper.

4. In a vending machine of the character described having articledelivery means consisting of a slide and a plurality of article engagingfingers mounted on the slide, a plurality of vertically arranged hoppersfor containing the articles to be vended, each hopper corresponding to afinger, a pivoted guard located under the articles in one hopper toprevent. engagement therewith by the finger corresponding to thathopper, a pivotally mounted feele'r member connected with the guard andarranged to contact with the articles in the preceding hopper to holdthe guard in operative position, and a spring for pressing the feelermember against the articles in its hopper, exhaustion of the articles inthe hopper to a predetermined extent permitting the spring to move thefeeler member and withdraw the guard from under the articles in itshopper.

5. In a vending machine of the character described, a plurality ofvertically positioned hoppers arranged in a file, said hoppers beingadapted to contain the articles to be vended, article delivery meansincluding a reciprocatory slide located under the hoppers and havingarticle-engaging fingers, there being one finger for each hopper andmeans for preventing the fingers corresponding to the rearmost hoppersfrom contacting with the articles in said rearmost hoppers until thefinger corresponding to the foremost hopper has delivered apredetermined number of ar- 65 ticles from the foremost hopper.

6. In a vending machine of the character described having articledelivery means including a plurality of article-engaging fingers, aplurality of vertically-positioned hoppers arranged in a'file, therebeing a finger corresponding to each hopper, a feeler member forengaging the articles in a hopper to determine when they have beenexhausted to a predetermined extent, a guard held by the feeler memberunder the articles in the next succeeding hopper, and means efi'ectivewhen the articles in the first hopper have been exhausted to apredetermined extent to move the feeler member and retract the guardfrom under the articles in its hopper.

HARVEY GILES.

